Sweet Parrish Place Celebrates One Year

It was only this week that I realized that today was my one year blogiversary! Now, I would love to be this wonderfully organized planner and have a spectacular post for you, to celebrate, with a grand giveaway.

Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Sorry folks, that is not going to happen today. You see, sometimes life just gets the best of you. I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Cross country, high school soccer, youth soccer, the senior play. And did I mention housework? Or trying to squeeze out finishing up some projects around here? And never mind just putting food on the table for four hungry kids.

And as far as a giveaway? I love it when bloggers have fabulous giveaways! I have even won two different ones! One was a $100 gift card from Staples from Honey We’re Home, and the other was a lovely necklace from Dimples and Tangles. But to be honest, even though I am officially one year old today, I haven’t the slightest clue about putting together a grand giveaway. I mean, I wish some awesome company would shoot me an email and offer me some fabulous prize to offer to my loyal readers. But so far, nada! Maybe one day I will get lucky and that will happen. Hoping. Praying. Wishing.

I thought I would celebrate today in a simple way. I have put together a recap of some of my most popular posts, my favorite projects. and while I am at it I want to give a nod of appreciation to some of the other awesome bloggers who have supported me in my venture. I have never met any of you in person, but I certainly hope to one day, and I truly appreciate the fact that you read this little ole blog of mine!

Let’s start with my ten most popular posts of the past year, shall we? This list will show you that you can never predict which posts are going to be popular with your readers.

10. Back to Basics- Household Uses For Vinegar– 1005 views
9. DIY No Sew Cafe Curtains– 1023 views
8. Wish I Had That- 10 Uses For Wooden Pallets– 1090 views
7. 15 Ideas To Get You In The Mood For Fall– 1564 views
6. Glass Problem Solved!– 1727 views
5. Painted Deck Reveal– 1834 views
4. Trashtastic Tuesday- $5 Canisters– 1961 views
3. Backsplash- Sneak Peek– 3573 views
2. brown Paper Floor Reveal– 6269 views

drumroll please…. and the most popular post I have ever done is

1. My Favorite Pinterest Pins of 2012– 31,446 views

Can we just pause for a brief moment and pay homage to the fact that one of the simplest posts I have ever written has been my biggest hit of all time? WTF??? I wrote that post in a hurry, not really giving it much thought at all, and look how many more views it has had than the rest? Seriously! Do you know how many hours of ~~blood~~, sweat, and tears went into some of my projects that I completed?

Like my painted subway tile backsplash, which, BTW, had a big feature on Remodelaholic? Where were all the views on that one? That project became my personal victory in blogland. Being featured on Remodelaholic was the best blog thing that has ever happened to me! I will be forever grateful to Cassity for featuring my hard work on her blog.

And then there was my kitchen cabinet reveal. That was my first really big project after starting this blog. And I still love my cabinets too. By the way, so far they are holding up really well. There has been one spot right underneath one of the handles of an upper cabinet that needed to be touched up. I think it is due to people fingernails scraping right in that spot repeatedly. You can see in the picture below that this is before my painted subway tile backsplash. big difference, am I right?

Two more of my favorite projects were painting my kitchen door and my front door black. They were both fairly easy projects that made a huge impact on the look of our home.

This is my kitchen door.

And this is my front door.

Another of my favorite projects was my wrapping paper bookshelf update. This was not a difficult project, but I think the change made a huge difference in the look of that bookshelf.

This past year of being a blogger has meant more to me than most people know. You see, I don’t mention my blog to most people. I don’t bring it up in many conversations at all. Only my close inner circle of friends do I even speak about it to at all. I don’t think I have ever “officially” told a single family member about my blog. Once in a while, I will find out that someone I have known for years reads my blog on a regular basis, or that someone I graduated with is a daily follower. I am always pleasantly surprised by this. Some of the people who have written me little notes saying that they read all of my posts are people who I didn’t even know liked me at all! And to those of you who might suspect I am talking about you right now, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, really I do.

This blog has been an awakening for me. I have finally realized what it truly means to have a passion for something. I feel like I have been asleep for most of my life, kind of wandering around not knowing what I was meant to be doing. Not knowing what I truly loved. I went to college. I earned my master’s degree in counseling, and I became a school counselor. It is not to say I don’t like my job, because it is a great and meaningful job. I have always loved children, and I hope and pray that I have made a difference in children’s lives. But what I am saying is that I have finally figured out what I was meant to do with my life. And it seems so simple. Is it going to touch people lives the way that being a school counselor can? Probably not. Will I ever make a living doing it? One can only hope to be so lucky.

But my passion for decorating, DIY, writing, and all of the stuff that I blog about is a part of me that I cannot ignore. It is what drives me, what I daydream about, what I truly wish I could do on a full time basis. I don’t know if that dream will ever come to fruition or not. But I do know that this blog fulfills a part of me that nothing else ever has, and for that I am so thankful, and proud! The best compliments that I think I have gotten since this blog began is when someone tells me that I am a great writer. Really? It makes me giddy knowing that someone sees that in ME! I have always had a dream that I would be a writer someday. Maybe write a book, or, I don’t know… so to hear that from someone is the ultimate compliment and a source of so much pride within myself. Thank you to each and every person who has complimented my writing.

One great thing that has come out of this blogging adventure is that I have become a contributing writer at a new website called JoyFul Home And Life. I was so happy when I received an email asking me to be a part of this wonderful new site! If you have never checked it out before, please do! It is brand new but I think it has a lot of wonderful things going on!

I also want to thank the people out there who read my blog who are virtual strangers to me. The fellow bloggers who I have never met. I have never met such a supportive group of women as my fellow bloggers. There are some of you in particular who make me feel the love regularly. And I want to take just a sec and give a few of you wonderful women a shout out.

Vel Criste from Life and Home at 2102– you are my most frequent commenter. I have no idea why you read my blog on a regular basis, because my little house has nothing on yours! But if you ever go away, I am going to come and hunt you down. You are just the sweetest friend.

Katherine from The Dedicated House has featured my work 7 different times. She may not even realize this! I don’t even know if she knows who I am, but every time I am featured on her blog, it makes my day!

Shelly Minette from Minetttes Maze frequently leaves me the nicest comments. That girl is a junker after my own heart! Thanks for following along with me Shelly!

Christine Vandermolen from Little Brags– Some of the compliments you have given me have literally made my day! I am so glad that I make you chuckle!

I have learned so much about blogging in the past year, but I still know that I have miles to go to get my blog where I would like it to be. I don’t know what the future holds for this little blog of mine, but I know this one thing. It truly has made me so happy every single day. It is a labor of love. It is an outlet for my creativity. I feel more inspired than I have ever felt. Every post I have written is a joy.

I hope that you will follow along with me as I continue my journey and follow my bliss! this second year is going to be even better than the first! If you really feel like giving me a big giant blog hug, here are some ways you can connect with me and show me the love:

Follow me on Bloglovin

Follow me on Pinterest

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Google Plus

If you stuck it out and read all the way through this very wordy post, congratulations! And thank you for sticking with it! It is people like you who care enough to read my words that mean the most.

Wow! Sweet Parrish Place is one year old! I am so proud that I have been able to keep it up for a whole year! And I am so looking forward to year two. Maybe next year, I will have that nice giveaway that I mentioned in the beginning. I hope you will stick around to find out! Trust me, there is not shortage of projects that are in need of being completed around here. I have only just begun!

Linking Up:

Style Elixir

Remodelaholic

Between Naps On The Porch